The fine Aert transformation of Wout

Just before the pro peloton got back to racing I caught up with the Belgian racing snake Wout van Aert, a multiple cyclo cross World Champion, and the hottest prospect in road racing right now. This is what he had to say on how he turned from the dirty side into a hardcore thrasher.

We also chatted about his climbing and stage racing potential - which I’m sure he’s now re-evaluating.

ST; You went from being an assumed classics rider to winning grand tour sprint stages and time trials. Despite being Belgian ITT Champion very few people expected, or even knew you could time trial, and mixing both is very unusual?

WVA; I don’t know; already 2 winters ago, when I came to team Visma, I went to see how far I could go in the time trial. I knew I had a good time trial in my legs, maybe a prologue, but I had always the disadvantage having been in a small team before. There was never the money for proper preparation, I didn’t have the best bikes, there weren’t trainers who specialised in time trialing, 

Then I came to a team that had a lot of experience and I improved immediately and also that gave me confidence – especially in the sprint. I also always thought that I had a good sprint in my legs, but I never believed that it was good enough to compete at the highest level, but it turned out that it was. Confidence was key in that.